Corsica property purchase

[hils]

oh woe

I thought we had our purchase in Corsica stitched up, but 2 visits & lots of phone calls later, where the price was vaguely agreed, we have now been told that the other vendor won't entertain our offer.

Basically, the situation is that the whole building was owned by the grandparents and loosely divided. Now, two different lots of grandchildren have inherited. The vendor we've been talking to owns the 1st, 2nd & 3rd floors and hall & stairwell of one half of the building, but there is "droit d'acces" in the stairwell (for US readers, the 1st floor is the one above the ground floor). For what we want to do, I need exclusive and closable access to the stairwell, and I also feel extremely uncomfortable about the ground floor (ie the foundations etc) not belonging to me, and currently not belonging to anyone who seems to care about maintenance of the property, so I have made an offer for the ground floor, in proportion to the value of the floors above, to secure that part of the property too.

The hitch is that the vendor thinks that his cousins will not react favourably to my offer for the purchase and also to my condition of exclusive ownership (with no right of access) of the stairwell. He has accepted my offer for his portion, but I have made it clear that my offer is conditional upon the satisfactory acquisition of the ground floor.

To be honest, the ground floor is not viable as a dwelling without practical space from the building either above or across the other side of the hallway. To my mind, the value of the remaining half (which is intended to be sold) is negligibly influenced by the inclusion or not of the ground floor (23m2 max), but both vendors will encounter problems with the access issues - I think.

The whole property requires a substantial amount of work (electrics, plumbing, windows, floors, stairs etc) & of course those works have to be taken into account vis-a-vis the offer(s). I (although I know it's not their problem) also have to take on board the atrocious current exchange rate Stlg:Euros, so cannot up my offer in comfort very much. I also think I have made a fair offer for the ground floor in proportion to the nominally accepted offer for the rest.

Does anyone have any advice or think of any other tactics I might employ ? I REALLY would like to get my hands on this place ....

Hils

[minesthechevy]

Run, dont walk away.

1. There'll be plenty more must-have properties - you've just not found them yet.

2. As I say quite often herein, if you give in on the price, you'll get known as an easy mark, and life will get tugher, not easier, as the enemy try to cash in.

3. 90% of what a vendor tells you is BS, so the chances are just walking away may produce a torrent of 'ah, M'sieur, we 'ave rethinked our position'.

Me, cynical? Yeah......

[frogblogger]

Ouch, negotiating for properties owned en division is an absolute nightmare. One of the negative consequences of Napoleonic law forceably dividing up estates proportionately amongst the heirs, loads of family members who often are barely on speaking terms with each other squabbling for ever over a proposed sale. There really is very little you can do. If you back off hoping for the best they will probably squabble even more as a result, once the recriminations start flying. If you up your offer someone will be greedier than the rest, and they will argue interminably over that as well.

Best of luck

[hils]

Yeah, you're probably right, but no, there aren't other properties out there at this kind of price (nominally).

My inclination is to wait it out until they get bored waiting for another potential buyer (it's already been on the market for over 18 months) and also hope for the currency exchange rate to recover ....

What miffs me a bit is that I could probably squeeze another 5K or so for the vendor we've been dealing with (he's a nice guy, yeah yeah - stop the cracks ...) BUT the cousin blocking the whole thing has made absolutely no effort to get involved in the "profiting from her inheritance" stuff, so I don't want to give HER any more than I think the place is worth ...

BUT ...

I REALLY want this place ..... lol

Hils

[hils]

Originally Posted by frogblogger

Ouch, negotiating for properties owned en division is an absolute nightmare. One of the negative consequences of Napoleonic law forceably dividing up estates proportionately amongst the heirs, loads of family members who often are barely on speaking terms with each other squabbling for ever over a proposed sale. There really is very little you can do. If you back off hoping for the best they will probably squabble even more as a result, once the recriminations start flying. If you up your offer someone will be greedier than the rest, and they will argue interminably over that as well.

Best of luck

O right ... thanks Pete


oops the wasn't intended for you personally - just the situation

[clementina]

[LEFT]









I think to do trasaction in corsica is buy property landscape for an expat and build an house with natural materials because building is less expansive and in must quality in an nice location where results caracters oneself choice !
to search landscape to build and found friends for do her dream within sea and mount!

Originally Posted by hils

oh woe

I thought we had our purchase in Corsica stitched up, but 2 visits & lots of phone calls later, where the price was vaguely agreed, we have now been told that the other vendor won't entertain our offer.

Basically, the situation is that the whole building was owned by the grandparents and loosely divided. Now, two different lots of grandchildren have inherited. The vendor we've been talking to owns the 1st, 2nd & 3rd floors and hall & stairwell of one half of the building, but there is "droit d'acces" in the stairwell (for US readers, the 1st floor is the one above the ground floor). For what we want to do, I need exclusive and closable access to the stairwell, and I also feel extremely uncomfortable about the ground floor (ie the foundations etc) not belonging to me, and currently not belonging to anyone who seems to care about maintenance of the property, so I have made an offer for the ground floor, in proportion to the value of the floors above, to secure that part of the property too.

The hitch is that the vendor thinks that his cousins will not react favourably to my offer for the purchase and also to my condition of exclusive ownership (with no right of access) of the stairwell. He has accepted my offer for his portion, but I have made it clear that my offer is conditional upon the satisfactory acquisition of the ground floor.

To be honest, the ground floor is not viable as a dwelling without practical space from the building either above or across the other side of the hallway. To my mind, the value of the remaining half (which is intended to be sold) is negligibly influenced by the inclusion or not of the ground floor (23m2 max), but both vendors will encounter problems with the access issues - I think.

The whole property requires a substantial amount of work (electrics, plumbing, windows, floors, stairs etc) & of course those works have to be taken into account vis-a-vis the offer(s). I (although I know it's not their problem) also have to take on board the atrocious current exchange rate Stlg:Euros, so cannot up my offer in comfort very much. I also think I have made a fair offer for the ground floor in proportion to the nominally accepted offer for the rest.

Does anyone have any advice or think of any other tactics I might employ ? I REALLY would like to get my hands on this place ....

Hils

[clementina]

My question,is what is your project for a corsica property ? a large landscape near sea or mountain? and what you are think as expansive ? there is several proposition but each are specifical at a single project

[hils]

Apologies for the French - I thought it would make it easier for Clementina - didn't realise EVERYthing had to be always English - on the assumption that everyone reading this would have some knowledge or would at least ask if there was something potentially interesting they didn't understand.

Anyway, the ideal project is to end up with a studio and a 2/3 bedroom gite, preferably not on a holiday park, for a maximum budget of about 160K. A renovation is not a huge problem as I have DIY skills and access to those of others, and since the property will be my daughter's main residence, she will become eligible for tax credits for some of the work.

A new build is more complicated as most of the plots of land (terrains - acceptable in French ? are on new development projects (lotissements ?) which I don't particularly want, or are either too small or not viable for a self-build - or just not in a desirable place.

The current best prospects look like a chalet in the north-east and a renovation project in the south-west, which appear to fall within budget. I'm not familiar with the area around Calvi that you mentioned, but for some reason I feel less attracted to it - sorry

However, we will be back in Corsica in a couple of weeks' time, so might check it out then.